Category: family life

If you’re looking for a jaw-dropping, absolutely magical family experience this Christmas, Longleat’s Festival of Light is it. As my sister said when I showed her some pictures last night, it simply doesn’t look real; at some points you feel like you’ve been transported to another world. If you’ve never…

I’ve loved horses since the minute I sat on one. My sister sat on one on the same day and didn’t get the vibe. I had lessons, often working (yes, as an 8yr old in the 80s, you could work) leading other children around all day just to get the…

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know me and my family LOVE Valley Fest with a passion. We’ve been looking forward to it for ages. Not least because it’s one of the only times in a year, aside from the odd wedding or party, where me and Mr W let…

Recently, a friend of mine told me about a parenting book she was reading. It advocated that you should simply play with your child for as long as you can manage without negativity, stress or barriers forming between you in the game. This could be an hour. It could be…

Trains and toddlers. The stuff of nightmares normally. For example, I’m writing this on the 4.30 home from Paddington right now, which is packed, full of raging people throwing passive aggressive chat at each other for taking their not actually reserved reserved seats. I need the loo possibly more than…

We are (hashtag) blessed in Bristol with some small businesses that have become synonymous with living here and enjoying the city. For example, if you love your food and don’t use Wriggle, you’re a bit bonkers, and the coffee as kindness giving app, huggg is perfectly lovely. Every butcher, baker,…

Sometimes, memories come so suddenly and so strongly, they hit you like an avalanche. Last week, the weather forecast, promising snow, transported me, despite the dreary nature of my car journey, back to being a small child, on a rare snow day with my family. We had a red sledge.…

A lot (too much) has been said about how motherhood changes you. Not enough could ever be said about how motherhood makes you lonely. I’m often lonely. I’m lonely in a crowded room. I’m lonely here, writing, the fridge humming and the dog mouth-breathing like a fat gibbon. I’m lonely at…

My eldest, now in Reception, is going through a phase, driven a lot by the new things she’s encountering at school. Every day, it’s about JoJo Bows (if you want my honest opinion on these, please get in touch!) and clip-ons, and sparkly cat ears on headbands. I want, I…

People talk about the smell of babies. Inhaling as your lips brush the top of your children’s heads. Knowing their fragrant little beings. My favourite smell in the whole world is the smell of woodsmoke in my daughter’s hair. She gets it from forest school. Tibbs was at a forest…